Thursday, May 21, 2009
National Skyline 'The Nashville Effect,' or Rather, the Sucking Up of Growth in the Music Industry
Posted by Steve Haruch on Thu, May 21, 2009 at 1:59 PM
Interesting little item over at The Daily Dish today entitled "The Nashville Effect," which makes the argument that Jack White's move to Nashville is "part of a broader trend" (other than the trend of people leaving Detroit) and that, in spite of the geographical freedom that the Internets provide, "music, like many other industries, is actually becoming more concentrated and clustered over time." And guess where these honey bunches of musicians are landing?
In 1970, Nashville was a minor center focused on country music. By 2004, only New York and L.A. boasted more musicians. The extent of its growth was so significant that when my research team and I charted the geographic centers of the music industry from 1970 and 2004 using a metric called a location quotient, Nashville was the only city that registered positive growth. In effect, it sucked up all the growth in the music industry.
You could say Nashville has become the "the Silicon Valley" of music, which is exactly what Richard Florida says. I could do without all the "technology parks" and strip malls, though. No word on the "Taylor Swift effect," but hopefully they're just working on the statistical models for that one.
(HT: Hannan.)
Comments (5)
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what about the "Steve Winwood" effect? Moving to Willamson County after you have become irrelevant.
why be angry at this post? it just says anyone who is worth a shit (and some who aren't, but very few) is here or is coming here. that sounds like a sweet hang to me if you want to play with people who will make you strech.
i think we got a crazy thing in nashville. take broadway for example...you have a shitload of hungry, ultra talented musicians trading choruses on the songs of the day....and doing it for seven or more hours at a time. i was talking to warren haynes the other night and he was describing nashville in the eighties. he said it was pretty dead, and it wasnt as happenin as it is now.
i always thouht it was the opposite. it wasnt. if one looks without jaded, angry eyes he or she will realize that what we got going on here in nashville is and has always been a working-class white version of a 52nd st. 40s-new york style jam going on.....and its growing.
even new york had the squares who sold lots of records. but the had monk, and bird, duke, the count, sonny rollins, and an assload of other aggressive improvisers taking it to the bandstand night after night.
the pussy shit will always be there, but always remmber the cats cutting heads on broadway. or rock and rollers at the springwater, the basement, and the five spot. or the pop-obsessed hipsters just trying to score a hit song so they can produce records for the rest of their lives.
we are all a mixture of these three archetypes, just all our own individual poportions. nashville is killin. lets support eachother. lets not be angry at one of our ranks who sells it and makes a house. you all want a fucking house. you all want a fucking hit, and if you dont and you are tying to do anything in this town you are kidding yourself. just write songs. eventually if you realy have something to say and a way to say it, it will be heard.
with persistance and without being angry at your neighbor.
be him from brooklyn, detroit, chicago, or la.
you are probably from ohio or arkansas, anyway.
Mr. Jimmy's got it right on. I've talked to people that have been here in one way or another since the 60's, written hits that have been covered a dozen times etc, and they seem to think even on the east side there is more musical activity than out west in the late 60's. We got it alright, I'm just ready to hear that song that cant be denied.
personally I'd love to see more of my friends with solid work if that's what "sucking growth in the music industry" means.
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